South-Central VS. South L.A

[MiamiMan305]

Most people are aware of how South-Central's name was changed to South Los Angeles in order to shed its image of gang violence and poverty.

My questions to the residents of Southern California are...

1. Do people actually call it "South-LA" now or is the area still known by most people as South Central?

2. Do you think that the name change is a positive, negative, or insignificant thing?

3. In your opinon how much has South-Central changed since the 80's and early 1990s? Has this change, or lack of, been for the better?

[VZN]

I was just thinking about this the other day, and how naming it South L.A. was such a terrible, stupid idea.

1) My dad's side of the family is from Watts. Everyone in his generation down to my generation still call the area South Central, myself included.

2) Insignificant as hell. Although the area has seen progress, the reasons for initiating the name change are still there. Changing the name didn't do a damn thing for South Central, you can't put sprinkles on shit and call it a cupcake. There are still problems in South Central.

3) South Central has changed quite a bit since the 80's and 90's, for the better. There's been some development in certain parts of the area. Most gangs are not as active and violent as they used to be, and some cliques of certain gangs don't even exist anymore. Although it's still a rough area, for the most part it's improving and it certainly isn't what it was during the crack era.

[saiholmes]

LA is no. 10
http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/2009...Population.pdf

from
http://www.cqpress.com/pages/citycrime2009
based on FBI

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by VZN

Changing the name didn't do a damn thing for South Central, you can't put sprinkles on shit and call it a cupcake.

.

Really? Ju can't call that a cupcake?

[klamedia]

"Milq" you are soooo wrong!

[pesto]

VZN sounds right.

Some people called any black neighborhood "south central" even if it was downtown, the West Adams district or Inglewood (not very south and not very central). East of Alameda was Hispanic but I don't know if they considered themselves South Central. When we visited there, we just called it Lynwood or Huntington Park.

This is all 30 years ago plus. Friends and family have moved to the Valley, OC, westside.

[arzaranh]

ALL of the media has completely bought into the fantasy but most people on the street still say "South Central".

[Imperfect Ending]

I didn't know that it was officially called "South Central"
I thought we're just calling it by it's location.

[dlbritnot]

Locals still certainly use the term south-central. This term was also once used for a much wider area as pesto was saying. The name change, first off, was not a big change so it looks like a half-attempt by the city. Secondly, the name is supposed to specifically reference the portion of Central Ave south of the middle demarcation. (Temple Ave) This term could still reference the specific area from LA Mart down past Slauson. Beyond that the area generally is called Florence for obvious reasons. The area has certainly improved since the early 1990s, property values have actually become competitive for the greater region. Homes that are now approx $200,000 were $15,000 fifteen/twenty years ago.

[Cibele Zimmerman]

[Kenny]

It will always be South Central, I guess only the official channels (the media and city) are calling it "South Los Angeles".

Crime now throughout the whole city is at 1950's level, so woop dee doo.